


The First Party

by Yotsuba101



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 01:09:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4984051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yotsuba101/pseuds/Yotsuba101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yotsuba has been invited to a party by Kiba, but her growing affection for her teammate has her feeling awkward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Party

**Author's Note:**

> This has been my stress relieving fic for about 2 months now. Its a short cute lil thing =]

“Damnit!”  
Yotsuba cursed loudly as the curling wand crashed to the floor. She popped her burned index finger in her mouth and let out a loud and pitiful whine. She heard footsteps scrape across her hardwood floor and into her bedroom. The person sighed and gathered the curling wand off of the floor.  
“You know, I let you borrow this thing because you said that you needed it. If I would've known you'd go throwing it around...” Kai looked closer at Yotsuba's finger. “Ah, I see. Rei! We need cold water! STAT!”  
Kai shook her head at Yotsuba's disheveled appearance, “You're going to have to go soon, you're already late. And quit messing with your hair, it looks fine!”  
Yotsuba fought the urge to roll her eyes and took the chance to admire Kai's long, chestnut hair, with its gently curled ends. She has seen Kai fight a thousand enemies, with her down and swirling around her, or up in a high ponytail, and every time without fail, every hair still laid perfectly flat against her head. It was the stark opposite of her own medium length, curly, purple hair. Yotsuba usually had to fight just to get it contained into the two buns that she normally wore it up in. And whenever she fought an enemy, a few curly pieces of hair would inevitably fall out of her hair ties.  
Rei walked into the room and knelt in front of Yotsuba, offering up her hands. Yotsuba reluctantly removed her finger from her mouth and showed it to Rei, whose palms began to swell with cold water. She held onto Yotsuba's finger and smiled at her.  
“I think you look super cute 'Tsuba.” she said.  
Rei was also dressing up that night, but for a different reason than Yotsuba. She was going out to dinner with Gaara, who was visiting the village. Yotsuba admired Rei in esteem. Rei, like her date, had fiery red hair. When they were younger, it was pretty wild, but as Rei grew older, the tamer it had become until it was longer than Yotsuba's. Rei usually had her hair tied back, but tonight she let it down. Combined with her light makeup, and her blouse and skirt combo, she looked almost ethereal. Yotsuba looked at her vanity mirror at her own appearance. She remembered a certain blonde classmate of hers making fun of her wild curls, and they hadn't settled much since then. Now, her thick curls were every where and one of her bra straps had slid down her shoulder during her battle with Kai's curling wand. She glared at the mirror. Why couldn't her hair have calmed down like Rei's did?  
“Ow!” Rei exclaimed.  
Yotsuba turned back to redhead, who was now in the ground cradling her own hand. Yotsuba's eyes widened in shock as she looked at her hand, which seemed to be radiating electricity.  
“Oh now you've done it!” Kai chastised her, “You need to calm down! Seriously!”  
Rei shuddered and looked up at her from the floor, “Lightning and water don't mix very well.”  
“I'm so sorry you guys!” Yotsuba cried before standing up and heading to the bathroom, “I can't do this! I'm just going to put my hair up! No, never mind, I just won't go!”  
Kai chased Yotsuba down and went to put her hands on her shoulders, before remembering what had just happened to Rei 30 seconds ago. She opted to step in front of Yotsuba instead.  
“Hey now, just calm down. You're freaking out over nothing, really.”  
Yotsuba frowned and reached for her box of hair ties, but Kai was too fast and snatched them away.  
“Do you remember when Rei first went out with Gaara? And she came out in that horrendous vest and sweatpants?” Kai asked.  
“Hey! I can hear you, you know!” Rei called from the bedroom.  
The girls ignored her.  
“Yeah” Yotsuba said softly.  
“And we made her turn around and change and she was super nervous, even though it wasn't even really a date?”  
“I guess so.”  
Kai turned to a new strategy, “Okay, well what about me? When I went out with Kakashi?”  
“Oh man, you were crazy!” Rei laughed as she entered the bathroom.  
“No I wasn't! Just a little nervous is all. And I wasn't even going just with him, Asuma, Kurenai, and a few other people who were older than me went too. But how did that end up?” Kai asked.  
“Kakashi carried you home because Anko got you plastered.” Yotsuba said blankly.  
Kai blushed furiously, “No! Well, yes – but you're missing the point! It went great and I had no reason to be nervous in the first place! Same with Rei!”  
“And,” Rei interjected, “Just like with us, its not even a date! Its not like you're going to be alone with Kiba or anything, he just invited you. Its a party! Shoot, you might find someone who smells a little better and decide to hook up with him!”  
“REI!”  
Rei giggled and ran away from Kai's outburst and Kai turned back to Yotsuba, deciding that she had calmed down enough and grabbed her hands.  
“So, maybe you should just calm down and we'll help you finish getting ready. And there's no way you're tying your hair up, I won't allow it. Especially when we know that he likes it down.”  
Kai winked at her and Yotsuba blushed, regretting telling Rei and Kai about that night.  
“Ouch!”  
Yotsuba looked at the red mark across the back of her hand. Hinata rushed over, still clad in a fluffy bath towel.  
“Yotsuba, are you okay?!”  
Yotsuba sighed and pulled the broken hair tie from her hair, “Yeah, the other hair tie snapped too.”  
Hinata's eyes widened, “Both of them in one night? I'm so sorry Yotsuba! Did you bring any extra?”  
Yotsuba shook her head and began to brush the middle part out of her hair. She noticed that Hinata was mesmerized as she combed through her damp curls.  
“Wow, your hair is kind of like Kurenai-sensei's, just curlier.”  
Yotsuba WISHED her hair was like Kurenai's. Kurenai had the perfect mix of curls, thickness, and tameness, and it was so long. She begrudgingly began to get dressed.  
Once she and Hinata were done, they walked into the inn's hallway and found that Kiba and Shino were just exiting their room with Akamaru in tow.  
“Oh good, we can all walk together.” Hinata said gleefully and waved the boys down.  
They both turned and almost immediately Kiba's eyes fixed on Yotsuba's hair. Her face reddened with embarrassment. She figured that he was going to make some wise crack about it. After a year of being his teammate she had gotten to know him and the others well, and it seemed that he loved to bicker with and insult her especially. She adverted her eyes until they caught up with one another.  
“Weren't the hot springs lovely?” Hinata asked.  
Shino nodded, “Yes, I made use of their cold bath though. The reason is because my bugs don't do well with so much heat.”  
As the two talked, Yotsuba couldn't help noticing that Kiba had slowed so he was walking right next to her in the hallway. He also hadn't turned away from her hair once.  
'I bet that jerk is thinking of the best way to make fun of me!' she thought angrily.  
She finally gathered enough confidence to look directly at him, but Kiba still didn't advert his gaze or even seem to notice.  
“...Kiba?” she asked quietly.  
“Its so pretty.” he said softly.  
Yotsuba's face blushed a deep red as he finally looked her in the eyes.  
“Its the first time I've never seen it down, you should do it more often. Its kind of cute.”  
Yotsuba tried to form words but nothing came out. He had already joined in on Shino and Hinata's conversation.  
“That was forever ago, Kai. He didn’t mean anything by it.” Yotsuba muttered.  
“And? Doesn't mean he still doesn't think it! And your hair is longer than it was back then!”  
Rei came back into the bathroom, with a messenger bag/purse slung across her frame. She leaned against the wall and looked at Yotsuba seriously.  
“Yotsuba, you are the only one who doesn't like your hair. The ONLY one. So get over it, would you?” Rei then smirked, “Besides, no one would deny you in that outfit. Good job Kai.”  
Kai smiled and Yotsuba’s blush grew fiercer. Kai had dressed Yotsuba in a white dress that came to mid-thigh and forced her into a pair of short black wedges (“Your butt gets three times bigger in those things!” Rei had laughed.)  
“Yeah, you don't think that its a little much, do you?” Yotsuba asked, tugging the dress down subconsciously.  
Kai and Rei rolled their eyes in sync with one another.  
“Really Yotsuba?”  
“You literally wear shorts shorter than that thing every day!”  
Rei sighed, “Look, I'm not leaving for my date until you leave for that party. But I'm sure as hell not going to keep Gaara waiting any longer. I WILL blame you and he WILL unleash his wrath on you.”  
Yotsuba snorted, she knew Gaara well enough by now to know that he'd probably wait calmly on Rei all night for any reason, and wouldn't unleash his “wrath” on anyone for it.  
“Rei has a point, and I also need you two to go so I can get my movie marathon on. I have ice cream waiting for me.” Kai laughed.  
“Your movie marathon in my house you mean?” Yotsuba corrected.  
“Oh lighten up! Kakashi is away, you have a huge TV, and I want to hear all of the gritty details when you get back. So shoo! You two should get going!”  
Yotsuba let Rei drag her by the hand to the door.  
“Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!” Kai laughed, shutting the door behind them.  
Rei and Yotsuba walked away from her apartment and into the humid night air. Yotsuba frowned, the humidity would only make her hair curl more.  
“Relax 'Tsuba, I can practically feel the static radiating from you.”  
“Sorry,” Yotsuba muttered, “its hard for me to turn it down now, I've been training so much.”  
“Seems like a night of partying is long overdue then .”  
They walked in silence for another two minutes before Rei stopped. Yotsuba turned to her.  
“'Tsuba,” Rei began softly, “you shouldn't be so nervous, you got invited to a party. That's awesome. Hopefully there will be copious amounts of underage drinking and bad decision making. I suggest that you participate in all of it and have some fun.”  
Yotsuba smiled at her friend's advice.  
“I can't promise you anything, but I'll try.” she said, trying to sound convincing.  
Rei nodded and turned to make her way to the restaurant. Yotsuba took a deep breath and tried to calm down.  
“Its just my hair. Its just a party. Its just Kiba. No big deal.”  
She repeated this all the way to the Inuzuka compound.  
Yotsuba could hear the party long before she saw it. She recognized several older ninja from around the village who were smoking and laughing outside of the main house. She couldn't help but admire the large bit of property the Inuzuka clan actually owned. Once you were past the gates, it was very spacious with different houses dotted throughout, probably so they could let their ninken run around undisturbed. The main house was the only two-story on the property, and all of the windows were thrown open, revealing the amount of bodies inside. Yotsuba gulped and heavily debated turning back. She only decided to go in once she realized that Kai would probably drag her back to the party herself. She walked up the steps and went to open the front door, only to have the doorknob fall away from her grasp.  
“Yotsuba?”  
Naruto had nearly ran right into Yotsuba on his way out. He blinked a few times before not-so-discreetly looking her up and down.  
“Woah, Yotsuba. You look way different!” he laughed.  
Yotsuba laughed nervously, “Thank you?”  
“No, really! In a good way! You look pretty!”  
Yotsuba blushed at Naruto's compliment and looked away from him. She was happy to see him not in his obnoxious orange get up, but didn't know exactly how to react to otherwise annoying ninja. She noticed him looking past her and peered back up at him.  
“Where's Rei? Did she not come?” he asked, searching for his old teammate.  
“Afraid not, she had a date with Gaara.” Yotsuba answered.  
“Oh, hes still in town? Awesome!” he flashed his toothy grin.  
Yotsuba laughed nervously as the awkwardness set in. Naruto suddenly jumped as if he had forgotten about something. Yotsuba flashed him a questioning look and he laughed anxiously.  
“I kind of forgot, I have to pee really bad. Later Yotsuba!” he suddenly slid past her and ran around the side of the building.  
Yotsuba giggled to herself. Two years didn't change Naruto that much after all.  
She walked through the doorway and observed her surroundings. The front door led right into their large kitchen and dining area. Sure enough, there were beer cans littering the counters and the table. People were standing around laughing and drinking. A particularly large group of guys were all huddled by the sink. Yotsuba walked further into the kitchen to get a better look at whatever they were huddled around. Hana was leaned up against the sink, laughing loudly over the music. She was obviously drunk already. Yotsuba suddenly felt self conscious when she noticed that Hana was clad only in a low cut tank top and shorts.  
'I did overdress!' Yotsuba thought, suddenly wishing to blend in with the wall paper.  
As she debated on traveling further into the party, she suddenly saw Kiba enter the room and she froze. He looked disgruntled and was dragging a bag filled with beer cans behind him. He gathered as many as he could off of the table and headed for the sink, pushing past his sister. Yotsuba inched closer so she could hear.  
“Damnit Sis, move.” he cursed and began pouring half emptied cans of beer down the sink.  
She laughed and slung her arm around him lazily, “Oh, sweet baby brother~”  
“Get off.”  
“Relax Kiba. If you don't, people might think that this is your first party.”  
He tensed suddenly and glared in her direction, “Get. Off.”  
“Oh dear,” Hana reached beside her and grabbed an unopened beer, shoving it into his hand, “Take this and relax would you? We can clean up later!” She then grabbed his recycling bag and shoved it into the hands of one of the many guys around her.  
Kiba held the can and sighed as his sister shoved him back towards where he came.  
“Go have fun, pup!” She laughed.  
He noticeably turned red and stalked off.  
The guys laughed with Hana as she turned to them, “Don't tell anyone, but its his first real party!”  
Yotsuba's eyes widened. So she wasn't the only one? She had always assumed that he had gone to parties before, even Hinata had been to one. Yotsuba suddenly felt more at ease.  
'Maybe I should go find him then.'  
She slid past a few party goers and walked towards the living room, where she again almost ran into someone.  
“...Yotsuba? No way.”  
Yotsuba had run right into Sakura. Ino's head popped out from around the corner.  
“Yotsuba? Cute dress!” Ino said after scanning her.  
“Oh, thanks.” Yotsuba said sourly.  
Ino may not have known it, but Yotsuba had hated her since the day they met, she just wasn't very vocal about it. She suddenly reverted back into self-consciousness, remembering her hair.  
“I'll grab us beers!” Ino told Sakura, pushing past the both of them.  
Once Ino was out of earshot, Sakura looked at Yotsuba.  
“Want to know a secret?” she asked. “I hate beer.”  
Yotsuba smiled, “I hate it too. Its really gross.”  
Sakura laughed at Yotsuba's response, “Well, thats what sucks about big parties like this. Beer is cheap and plentiful.”  
Yotsuba just nodded in reply, since she didn't really know 'what sucked about big parties.' Sakura seemed to read her mind.  
“Hey, its loud here. Lets go sit.” she said, before grabbing Yotsuba's hand and leading her away.  
Yotsuba tried not to recoil back from Sakura's touch. While she didn't know Sakura well, she did know that she wasn't a big fan of hers. Sakura's constant whining during their academy days along with Rei's horror stories was all Yotsuba needed to know they wouldn't get along. Sakura led her through a mass of party goers and to the main floor of the living room. She noticed Hinata sitting quietly in the corner, sipping on a soda. Hinata looked up and smiled; Yotsuba almost burst into tears at the sight. As soon as Sakura released her, Yotsuba sat close to Hinata on the couch, using her teammate as a kind of security blanket.  
Hinata giggled, “Are you liking the party Yotsuba?”  
“I'd like it more if they gave us something other than beer.” she muttered in response.  
Hinata smiled, “Thats why I just brought soda with me. I learned after the last party I went to.”  
“You're so smart Hinata,” Sakura sighed, “I would even prefer the hard stuff to beer at this point.”  
“Well it gets you drunk, so don't complain,” Ino said, flopping down on the couch beside Sakura, “Its not like we can buy it anyway.”  
She handed a can to Sakura and then offered one to Yotsuba, who accepted it with caution.  
“Be careful Ino, you might end up with a beer gut.” Sakura teased and flicked Ino's bare stomach.  
“Hey!” she whined.  
Yotsuba took in what the girls' were wearing. Ino, like always, had her midriff showing in a purple crop top and was wearing a skirt. Hinata wore an over sized pale sweater, a blouse, a modest skirt, and a pair of leggings underneath that. Sakura wore a red blouse, a black jean skirt, and high heeled boots. Their ensembles made Yotsuba less worried about her own appearance.  
“Oh, Yotsuba,” Hinata said dreamily, “Your hair has gotten so long, hasn't it?”  
Yotsuba froze at the mention of her hair.  
“Uh, y-yeah, I guess,” she stuttered, “Its nothing compared to your length though.”  
“I never knew how curly it was! I'm so jealous!” Sakura pouted, twirling her own straight hair around her finger.  
Ino scoffed, “Oh please.”  
Yotsuba prepared herself for the worst as Ino looked at her.  
“You two are fawning over her hair but look at her shoes! Where did you get them? I would murder for those!”  
Yotsuba breathed a sigh of relief.  
“They're Kai's actually. She just let me borrow them.” Yotsuba cracked open her can of beer and forced it down.  
The conversation went on for awhile that way, and was surprisingly pleasant. As the hours passed, Ino had even managed to convince Yotsuba to dance with her. However, the dance was eventually interrupted by a highly intoxicated Rock Lee, and Yotsuba took her leave so that Ino could deal with her bad karma. Hinata excused herself early and went home with Lee and Neji (who came to babysit Lee in the first place.) During this entire time, Yotsuba had not seen Kiba at all, and she wondered where he had gone. Sakura yawned and stretched on the couch next to her.  
“This was actually pretty fun,” Sakura said happily, “but I ought to go home soon. While I can still walk.”  
Yotsuba had only managed to get a buzz going off of the few beers that she had.  
“Yeah, I think I'll be going here soon too.” she said, peering around the room for any sign of the Inuzuka.  
Just then Naruto fell over the back of the couch and into the two girls' laps. He reeked of beer and was laughing madly.  
“Sakuraaaaa! Lets dance!” he slurred.  
Sakura rolled her eyes, “Well that's my cue, I'll walk him home.”  
She shoved Naruto off of her lap and stood up.  
“Come on Naruto. Hey, Yotsuba, if you see Kiba, can you tell him that we had a great time?”  
Sakura helped Naruto up and the two left. The party was dwindling as more and more people took their leave, but still Kiba was nowhere to be seen. Yotsuba stood up and ran her hand through her hair, the compliments and liquid courage she received boosted her self-esteem tremendously. She still thought that she should check her appearance in a mirror though. Yotsuba went into the kitchen once more and saw Hana half-passed out by the table.  
“Uh, Hana?” Yotsuba asked tentatively.  
Hana groaned in response.  
“Where's your bathroom?”  
“Upstairs.” Hana answered, waving Yotsuba away.  
Yotsuba made her way through a mess of beer cans and went up the stairs. The long hallway was dark, except for a bit of light that leaked out from one of the rooms. The door was cracked and Yotsuba could hear low music coming from the room. Her curiosity got the best of her and crept to the cracked door and peered in. Kiba was laying on his bed next to Akamaru, surrounded by empty beer cans. He tapped his foot in time with the music and seemed to be half asleep. Akamaru must have noticed Yotsuba's presence because he lifted his head and looked towards the door. Yotsuba's breath caught in her throat and she began to step away, but it was too late. Kiba had noticed Akamaru's reaction and gave a tentative sniff to the air before looking towards the door as well.  
“Who's there?” he asked, brows furrowed.  
Yotsuba sighed and pushed the door open, “Sorry, I didn't mean to seem so sneaky.”  
Kiba's eyes widened, “Yotsuba? I, uh, you smell different.”  
“I do?”  
“Yeah, I couldn't tell it was you at all.” He sat up quickly, “Oh, you can come in.”  
She stepped in and leaned against the wall with her hands behind her back. She adverted her gaze away from him.  
“I didn't realize you could recognize my smell so easily.”  
“Of course I can, same with Shino and Hinata. That's why you're confusing me right now, are those your clothes?” he asked.  
Yotsuba shook her head, “No, Kai loaned them to me.”  
“Ah, that makes sense then,” he observed her for a moment, “You look really nice, I wish I would've realized that you were here.”  
Yotsuba looked up at him and it was his turn to advert his gaze. He blushed furiously.  
“Ah - I mean - I just couldn't tell if you had showed or not because you smell so different. I mean, I've been drinking, so maybe its messing with my nose or something.”  
“Kiba?”  
He turned back to look at her.  
“Why are you up here?”  
Kiba's eyes widened at her question and he scowled, “What? A guy can't be in his own room?”  
Yotsuba pushed herself off the wall and looked around his room.  
“I didn't mean it that way,” she said, “but it is a little odd that you're up here all alone, during your own party.”  
“I-I just didn't like my sister's music. That's all.” he stuttered.  
Yotsuba smiled a knowing smile and walked towards him.  
“You know,” she sat next to Kiba and Akamaru on the bed, much to Kiba's surprise, “This is the first party that I've ever been to.”  
“Really?”  
Yotsuba nodded, “Uh huh. I've been invited to a few before, but I've never actually gone to any but this one. So I was kind of nervous before I got here.”  
Kiba raised a brow, “Why'd you decide to come to my party then?”  
Yotsuba blushed and said softly, “Because you asked me to.”  
The two sat in silence for a few seconds. Kiba finally mustered the courage to speak.  
“This is my first party too, actually, it would've been.” he rolled his eyes, “but I don't know, my sister invited a bunch of people and the house was getting trashed, and I just couldn't relax. So I hid out up here with Akamaru.”  
Akamaru nudged Kiba's arm from behind and Kiba smiled back at him.  
“Well, everyone seems to think it was a great party. I had fun.” Yotsuba said.  
“Good to know. It sounds like it must be over by now though.” Kiba stood up and stumbled, “Oh man, I'm more buzzed than I thought.”  
Yotsuba laughed, “Well then you'll have more fun cleaning up. I ought to warn you, its a mess down there.” she watched him frown, “Don't worry, I'll help.”  
“You don't have to Yotsuba, its not your responsibility.” he sighed.  
“But I did help make the mess. Don't worry about it, I'm in no hurry to get home.”  
She stood up and followed him downstairs. Sure enough, the place was desolated and destroyed. Yotsuba made her way through the living room to cut off the music as Kiba attempted to wake his sister up. Hana didn't budge. The two began in the living room, Yotsuba picked up beer cans and Kiba reset the furniture in the correct places. They eventually worked their way to kitchen and cleaned around Hana’s passed out body. Kiba did a quick survey of the rest of the property. When he came back, he sighed.  
“Found a few stragglers passed out. And it reeks of piss out there.”  
He fell into a chair and watched as Yotsuba washed dishes.  
“Well, when I ran into Naruto earlier, he said something about going out there to pee.” she laughed.  
“I bet he did, that idiot.” He stood back up and stood behind Yotsuba, “Hey, you don't have to do dishes. You've done enough.”  
She grew nervous at their proximity, “No, its okay. I really don't mind.”  
He grinned and sat on the counter next to her.  
“You're the best Yotsuba, thanks again.”  
He watched her quietly for some time as she washed and she enjoyed the comfortable silence, wondering how her feelings for her teammate managed to evolve from blatant dislike to… whatever they were now. Once she was about done, he got her attention.  
“Hey,” he said softly, “I'm glad you showed up. I thought you wouldn't come.”  
She looked at him confused, “Why would you think that?”  
He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, “I don't know. I just thought you told me that you'd come to be nice. And then you didn't show up right away, so I just figured that you had other plans and...” he looked over at her again, “but you did show up. You even dressed all nice and wore your hair down but I didn't know.”  
Yotsuba blushed at the mention of her appearance.  
“I think I overdressed a bit.” she said nervously.  
“No! Not at all!” he said quickly, “You look great! Like, I don't know how you can even walk in those, but you make it look easy. And your dress is nice and your hair...”  
Yotsuba paused on the dish that she was on and looked up at Kiba hopefully. Kiba swallowed.  
“Its really cute. I like it when your hair is down.”  
Yotsuba smiled at his admission and finished the last dish.  
“I had hoped you still did.” she said quietly.  
She wiped her wet hands on her dress and turned to Kiba shyly.  
“So, do you need any more help?”  
“Nah, I think we’re good,” He jumped down from the counter, “I’m making Hana do whatever is left.”  
Yotsuba peered at Hana, who was snoring happily. “I never knew that she was such a party animal.”  
“She doesn’t give off that kind of vibe, I know, but shes as bad as Mom when it comes to alcohol.”  
Yotsuba laughed, “What about you? Do you always hide out when you drink?”  
Kiba rolled his eyes “Ha. You're funny. I actually hold my alcohol very well, thank you very much. And I only hide out sometime, you would too if you drank with my mom and sister.”  
“Well considering that you almost fell from getting off your bed, I’m skeptical of that one.”  
Kiba’s cheeks flushed, “I had a lot to drink! Besides, I bet you didn’t drink at all tonight!”  
“W-well, yeah I mean I only had a few beers, but thats just because I usually drink the hard stuff!”  
“Oh really? I’d need to see proof of that, you seem like the fruity girly drink type.”  
“Funny, I was just thinking the same about you.”  
Kiba glared at Yotsuba and she laughed.  
“Such a fragile complex. You haven’t changed at all have you?” she giggled.  
“You haven’t changed either, you know.” Kiba smiled softly, “I’m glad.”  
Yotsuba’s eyes widened as she looked at him, but he just continued to smile.  
“I know that I’ve told you already but I’ll say it again: we all really missed you when you were gone. It just didn’t feel right without you. I was mad for awhile but… Honestly, I really missed having you around. I missed having your back and you having mine, training, all of us going out together. I even missed arguing with you. I’m so happy that you're back, I don’t think that I could handle it if you left again,” Kiba looked Yotsuba in the eye, “So don’t leave again, ok?”  
The blood rushed to Yotsuba’s face all at once and she nearly fell over. Kiba rushed to steady her.  
“Woah! How much did you drink again?” He asked, oblivious to her extreme embarrassment.  
She swatted at his hands, “I’m fine, really! I, uh, just need some… fresh air!”  
“You sure?”  
Yotsuba nodded and headed for the door.  
Once outside, Yotsuba realized that she had made a grave mistake. The humid air from a few hours ago had transformed into a chilly wind. She tried to hide her shivering by crossing her arms and huddling against the wall of Kiba’s house.  
“I ought to head home soon.” Yotsuba said, purposefully avoiding looking in Kiba’s direction. If she looked at him, she might just explode with embarrassment.  
“It is pretty late isn’t it? Let me walk you home.”  
“No no! Thats ok, I’ll be fine alone!”  
“I’m sure you that you would be, I’ve seen you fight. Just let me be polite and walk you home, would ya?” He grinned widely and Yotsuba fought to keep her glance away from him.  
“You? Polite? Thats a good one.”  
“Oh? Should I just be honest and say that I’m trying to get into your pants?”  
Yotsuba gasped and whipped around to look at Kiba, who was sticking his tongue out at her.  
“Pervert!” she punched him in the arm roughly and he laughed at her.  
“Let me go get Akamaru and we’ll go.” Kiba rushed back into his house.  
Yotsuba buried her face in her hands. How did the night end up like this? Kai and Rei were going to harass her forever over this one.

… She heard Akamaru’s large paws scratching against the kitchen floor and sighed. ‘Time to face the music.’  
She watched as Akamaru bombarded out the door and did a double take at her form against the side of the house. He slid to a stop and sat down in front of Yotsuba, eager for attention. Just as Yotsuba reached to pet him, she was blinded by a mass of dark and heavy cloth. She pulled the cloth of her head to find Kiba’s old Genin jacket. She looked at him questioningly.  
“Well? Put it on.” Kiba rolled his eyes at her, “I saw you shivering.”  
Yotsuba pouted as she slid the jacket on, “How are you not cold?”  
“I’ve had plenty to drink. This breeze is nice.”  
They began to walk in the direction of Yotsuba’s apartment. Kai and Rei were right: she shouldn’t have panicked after all. All things considered, the night had taken a great turn for the better. She unconsciously smiled to herself, remembering all that had happened that evening. The sky was slowly turning into a soft pink, a welcome warning that dawn was fast approaching. She had missed the smell of the trees here. While the desert in Suna and the mountainous Kumo had their own beauty, Konoha was the place that she was used to. Glancing back at an unsuspecting Kiba, she realized how happy she was to be home. 

“Why are you smiling randomly? You’re not that drunk right?” Kiba teased at her, flashing her a grin.

“Shut up, stupid. I’m just happy to be back home” Yotsuba told him, rolling her eyes at his teasing.

The walk back to her place wasn’t as far as she thought. She could already see the light from the TV on in her living room, Kai must have still be on her movie binge.  
“Is someone in your house?”  
“Its just Kai, shes freeloading off of my TV for the night, well, morning now.” Yotsuba sighed, remembering the impending doom looming because of her having stayed out so late.  
Kiba raised a brow, “Thats weird, is her’s broken or something?”  
“No, she just wanted to know about-” Yotsuba froze mid-sentence.  
“...About?” Kiba stopped a few feet away from the entrance to Yotsuba’s apartment.  
Yotsuba blushed and avoided his questioning stare, “She just wanted to know about… Girl things, you know?”  
“You’re a really bad liar.” Kiba flicked Yotsuba in the forehead teasingly.  
“Ow!” Yotsuba pouted angrily and flicked Kiba in the chest, making sure to incorporate a bit of lightning in her fingertips.  
“OW! What the hell was that for?!”  
“Well you hurt me too you know!”  
“I didn’t shock you!”  
“Thats extra payback for being a perv earlier!”  
Kiba growled and took a step closer to Yotsuba, “Thats a load of crap!”  
“Geez, Build a bridge and get over it would you-”  
Yotsuba stopped once she found herself face to face with Kiba. Kiba froze as well after realizing their proximity. The two stared at one another, gaping wordlessly, when suddenly, light washed over the both of them from Yotsuba’s doorway.  
“Oh! Excuse me for interrupting!” Kai cackled, “I didn’t realize you guys were having a moment, I’ll just go peek from the window-”  
“No!” Kiba and Yotsuba shouted in unison.  
“I mean, its not what you think!” Yotsuba cried, mortified of the smug look on Kai’s face.  
Kai reached outside of the doorway and pet Akamaru lovingly, “Awww, Akamaru, are they making out infront of you? Poor boy.”  
Kiba and Yotsuba went red up to their ears and Kai laughed at their shocked faces.  
“Well Yotsuba, its well past your curfew and we have a LOT to talk about. Tell your lovely suitor goodnight.” Kai giggled, left the doorway, and went into the house.  
After a moment of silence, Yotsuba turned to Kiba, “I’m so sorry!”  
“For what?” Kiba asked, bewildered.  
“Kai is so mean!”  
Kiba laughed at Yotsuba’s outburst and pulled her into a hug, much to her surprise.  
“Thanks again for showing up tonight.” he said quietly.  
Yotsuba remained frozen in shock until he pulled away.  
“See you Monday?” he flashed her a toothy smile.  
“Y-yes!” she replied shakily.  
He nodded, “‘Gnight Yotsuba.”  
“Good night…”  
She watched as Kiba turned with Akamaru on his heel and walked back down the path to his house. She tore her eyes away from his receding form and went inside the house, closing the door behind her. Kai was by her living room window, peeking out the window. Kai turned to Yotsuba and smiled.  
“You totally should’ve seen the bell-kick that he just did.”  
Yotsuba rolled her eyes and kicked off her wedges.  
Kai pulled away from the window, “Seriously? I thought I taught you better. You guys are so awkward!”  
“Shut up.” Yotsuba muttered.  
“I will only if you tell me what made you stay out til morning AND come back wearing his jacket.”  
Yotsuba couldn’t help but to smile. She knew that she wouldn’t mind recounting that night, she would be doing it for awhile.


End file.
